Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., said he didn’t “feel a sense of rejection” after losing his bid to become the House Communications Subcommittee’s ranking member (CD Jan 20 p13). But in a keynote Thursday, he also told the Minority Media Telecommunications Council that, “after a brutal yesterday, I needed to be around some friendly faces.” Rush will be ranking member of the Energy and Power Subcommittee, but he said he will remain active on the Communications Subcommittee. A flurry of statements from industry, public industry and other groups applauded the selection of Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., as Communications’ ranking member. Other Democrats named to the subcommittee: Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, Doris Matsui and Jane Harman of California, John Barrow of Georgia, Ed Towns of New York, Frank Pallone of New Jersey and Diana DeGette of Colorado. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., is a nonvoting, ex officio member. DeGette will be the ranking member on the Oversight Subcommittee, which is also expected to deal with FCC matters. Other Democratic members of that subcommittee are Markey, Dingell, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Mike Ross of Arkansas, Anthony Weiner of New York, Gene Green and Charles Gonzalez of Texas. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the parent Commerce Committee’s ranking member, is an ex-officio member of all the subcommittees.
Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., took himself out of the running for ranking member of the House Communications Subcommittee, clearing the way for Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., to take the job. Towns will join the Commerce Committee, according to a list we obtained of Democratic committee assignments. Also, House Judiciary Committee Republicans announced chairmen and vice chairmen for its subcommittees. Late Friday, Commerce Committee Republicans announced their subcommittee assignments.
Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, added two seats to the Commerce Committee, one for each party, a Democratic aide said Wednesday. Otherwise, the return of Rep. Ed Towns, D-N.Y., to the committee would have pushed out the less senior Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., the aide said. Matsui will keep her seat with the new committee roster of 31 Republicans and 23 Democrats, but the lineup isn’t entirely settled, the aide said. A Boehner spokesman didn’t immediately return a request for comment. Matsui’s office declined to comment.
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said Friday he had not decided how he will vote on proposed net neutrality rules at Tuesday’s commission meeting. The comments came in response to a letter sent Thursday by House Commerce Committee member Mike Rogers, R-Mich., asking commissioners to cancel the vote and for responses by noon Friday on how they planned to vote (CD Dec 17 p1).
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., hopes to bring certainty to industry next year on long-brewing telecom issues like net neutrality and Universal Service Fund reform, the House Communications Subcommittee member said in an interview last week. Providing subsidies to make broadband more affordable for low-income Americans and addressing fears about lack of privacy online are two important ways to motivate more people to embrace fast Internet service, she said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., led effectively on technology issues, seven Democratic House members who focus on the subject told colleagues Tuesday in a letter supporting her for minority leader. Signers included Communications Subcommittee members Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif. Pelosi helped spur the spread of affordable broadband by providing $7.2 billion for that purpose in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the members said.
African-Americans and Hispanics are still less likely to use broadband Internet in their homes even when they attain the same education and income levels as whites, a government report said. Nearly 87 percent of urban and nearly 76 percent of rural, college-educated white families used broadband in their homes in 2009. But for black families with the same education, the percentages were about 77 percent in cities and 56 percent in the countryside; for college-educated Hispanics, the percentages were almost 78 percent in cities and about 69 percent in the country, the Commerce Department said in a report released Monday.
A House deal on net neutrality suffered a major setback Wednesday when House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, opposed a legislative effort by Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. Waxman had been waiting for Republicans to sign off on his draft bill and didn’t introduce anything before our deadline. The House planned to adjourn Wednesday night, unless the Senate hadn’t wrapped up the continuing spending resolution, and it won’t return until after the November elections, a House leadership aide said. Committee members Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told us they don’t expect net neutrality action during the lame-duck session.
House Democrats are now eyeing lame-duck passage of their net neutrality bill, two House staffers said Tuesday. House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., may introduce the measure Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, they said Tuesday afternoon. Republicans were still reviewing the net neutrality draft bill Tuesday afternoon, House and industry officials said. Observers don’t expect Congress to pass the bill, but it could send a message to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski that he shouldn’t reclassify broadband under Title II of the Communications Act (CD Sept 28 p1).
Smart grid applications should be able to use TV white spaces, said California Democratic Reps. Doris Matsui and Anna Eshoo. In a letter Tuesday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, the House Commerce Committee members urged the FCC to promote smart grid and other technologies in its white spaces order that’s set for a Thursday vote. Electric utilities could “substantially benefit from the use of white spaces for smart grid technologies,” the lawmakers said. “Utilities will be able to better manage outages, reduce peak demand, and gain more control over the decisions concerning resources."